


Russell Jackson: Man of Multitudes

by thanku_bess



Category: Madam Secretary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29114574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanku_bess/pseuds/thanku_bess
Summary: Some glimpses into the McCord family's relationship with the Jacksons after Russell retires. Stevie teaches Russell about gender pronouns so he can teach a college course. Russell and Carol become honorary grandparents to Stevie and Dmitri's children.
Relationships: Carol Jackson/Russell Jackson, Elizabeth McCord/Henry McCord, Stevie McCord/Dmitri Petrov
Comments: 14
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

Early on in Russell's retirement--the real one--Georgetown's Political Science department contacted him and asked if he would teach a class in the spring semester. He had turned down offers to guest lecture at multiple universities, so teaching his own class was out of the question. He finally had peace and quiet with the love of his life. He was good to go. 

But it was Carol who encouraged him to accept the position. "It's only for a semester, Russ," she had said to him. If she were being honest, she was thrilled at the prospect of Russell expanding the audience of his long winded policy rants beyond their kitchen table. She loved her husband's extensive knowledge and passion, but there was only so much through which she could smile and nod. 

So Russell accepted the position. When he told Bess, she had been shocked. "They're letting you interact with undergrads?" 

"Well, if I remember correctly, I mentored your daughter when she was that age," he retorted. Bess did have a point, though. While age and more time with Carol had softened him a bit, he still retained his short temper and stubbornness. He was a little concerned that he would make one of those Gen x snowflakes cry in a lecture. Everyone was so sensitive these days! 

When the dean emailed the syllabus template to all professors a few weeks before the semester started, Russell called Stevie. Stevie had just unpeeled the lid of a yogurt, hoping to steal a few minutes at her desk to eat lunch, but she had been meaning to check in with Russell. "What are pronouns?" he asked. "I mean I know what they are but why do I need to talk about them in my class?"

Stevie sighed. “First of all, hello Russell. Second, aren't you following the McCord Administration's work on this?"

"Yes, but I still don't really get it. Just explain what I'm supposed to put down for this damn syllabus."

"Ok, but Russell? I really encourage you to educate yourself more about issues facing the LGBTQ community. Especially if you're going to be working with young adults."

"Fine.” Russell had learned that any other answer would result in weeks of arguing.

“Good. So first things first: What are your pronouns, Russell?" Stevie asked. 

“I am male," Russell replied impatiently. 

"See, that doesn't tell me your pronouns," Stevie explained. 

"Sure it does. I am a man. Obviously I use he and him."

Stevie took a deep breath. "We can't assume someone's gender from the way they look. And if we assume incorrectly and use the wrong pronoun, we are misgendering them."

"Misgendering?" Russell was lost. 

Stevie stirred her plastic spoon around her yogurt. This was a larger conversation than she had the time for. "Russell. Do you want students to feel respected in your class?"

"Well, yes."

"Great. So put your pronouns on your syllabus. However you have students introduce themselves, ask them to include their pronouns."

Russell scribbled this down in his notebook. "Ok, ok. I say Russell Jackson, I use he and him. And then those kids tell me theirs."

"Exactly!" Stevie responded with relief. She thought for a moment. "And one more thing. Some people don't identify as male or female, so they might use they/them/theirs for their pronouns."

"That rings a bell," Russell said. "That PSA Bess did with all those celebrities."

"Yes!"

"Right." He jotted down "they pronouns-not about grammar" in the book as well. "Thanks, Stevie."

"I'm glad I could help," and replied. 

"You always do. And Stevie? I know you know I think a lot of social justice campaigns are a load of new age crap. But the pronoun thing? That I get. If I make some dumb college kid cry in my class, I want it to be because I accuse them of lazy thinking, not because I disrespected their identity."

Stevie's heart swelled. Or maybe it was the bile rising in her throat. Her morning sickness hadn't fully gone away. She had been considering sharing the news with Russell when he called, but she decided to focus on helping him. There would be plenty of future opportunities to tell him he'd be an honorary grandpa in a few months. 

"I know," she responded. "Gotta go!” 

At dinner that night, Russell told Carol about how Stevie had saved him from “royally screwing up the semester.” Carol loved Stevie for continuing the mentor-mentee relationship they had developed. Stevie didn't only save Russell's life the day she performed CPR; her quiet faith in Russell and willingness to learn as an intern had given him a new purpose. Russell never thought he needed someone to look up to him, but Carol had known better. In the beginning, Carol's friend at the hospital asked her if she was bothered by the fact her husband spent long days at work with his "hot young intern". And maybe it would have, if the intern were not Stevie. 

The course ended up going better than Russell expected, and there had been some pretty significant experiences along the way. Nadine, Jay, and Conrad had all agreed to give guest lectures via Zoom. It also turned out that the Political Science department was a little lax about pronouns, and some of his jackass colleagues had either never asked their students, or worse, never bothered to learn. One of Russell's most talented students was a junior political science major who identified as nonbinary. They told Russell one day during office hours that his was the first class in the department where their identity was respected. "I didn't expect some old cis white guy to be my most affirming professor," they said. Russell was surprised by this as well. He threatened his colleagues at a faculty meeting to start taking pronouns seriously. They all knew what he was capable of. 

Now, instead of listening to long winded rants about tax policy and foreign relations over dinner, Carol heard stories about Russell's students and what the college experience was like today. It was so different from when they had gone to school, and she found herself fascinated by Russell's descriptions. If she were surprised by Russell's quest to become a stronger ally to the LGBTQ community, she didn't show it. She knew the man contained multitudes. 

Toward the end of the semester, the dean approached Russell about teaching a summer course. Russell decided to decline the offer. After all, he wanted to spend another relaxing summer with Carol to make up for all the summers he should have been by her side but instead spent in the Oval Office or chasing after legislators and lobbyists. More importantly, he and Carol were becoming honorary grandparents very soon. While the actual grandparents, Elizabeth and Henry, would ideally be a constant presence, their roles as POTUS and FGOTUS made babysitting difficult to guarantee. And with Ali living in New York and Jason abroad, Dmitri and Stevie had asked if Russell and Carol could step in when Elizabeth and Henry couldn't. Russell and Carol were moved by the request. 

One day, Russell and Carol came over while Dmitri was at work. Baby Maddy was asleep upstairs, and a very sleep deprived Stevie sat in a daze on the couch. Carol went to the kitchen to make tea, and Russell sat on the couch next to Stevie, glancing at the baby monitor. "Russell, I hope you don't regret turning down teaching because of me."  
"Well that's a little presumptuous." He pointed to the monitor. "I turned down teaching because of her.” As if on cue, Maddy began shrieking. Stevie stood up. "I'll get her," Russell said, rising from the couch. "Drink some tea with Carol and talk about that stupid show you both like.”


	2. Chapter 2

Russell Jackson died during Madeline McCord Petrov's senior year of high school, but not before he was able to critique her college application essay. Maddy had selected a generic prompt to write about a person who helped her grow. She wrote about Russell, but made it clear that her choice had nothing to do with his political fame or role in a historic presidential administration. Instead, she wrote about participating in Girl Scouts in sixth grade, and how the other girls would made fun of her for being scared of most activities. To help her prepare for a camping trip, Carol suggested that Nana and Russell take her fishing. The three of them had a lot of fun. Afterward, Nana had explained to her that this was the first time in many years that Russell was able to go fishing, so their day trip was a big deal. This made Maddy feel special and motivated her to go on the Girl Scouts trip. When she was sixteen, she found a scrapbook she made in middle school, and there was a photo of her grinning proudly with her catch of the day. When she showed the photo to Russell and asked why going fishing had been so important, he told her about the accident and how fishing was a trigger for his PTSD. "Russell taught me when I was eleven that we can face our fears with the help of the people we love. That's a good lesson to learn in early adolescence, when the world feels impossibly daunting and you paradoxically possess an inflated sense of confidence coupled with self-loathing. But it wasn't until I learned the whole story behind the fishing trip that I realized how much this lesson meant to me," Maddy wrote. 

On the day of the funeral, Maddy thought about Russell losing his older brother when he wasn't much younger than she was now. She considered how he had carried his grief over the course of a lifetime, and wondered about her own. Maddy knew she would always remember how she felt today. That she'd remember the little things like how her mother held her hand, the way she chipped at her purple nail polish, the way the black heels that her Aunt Alison had lent her pinched her toes. 

Carol, her parents, and her grandparents all encouraged her to speak once the funeral had been arranged, and Maddy protested. She'd practically failed out of her public speaking elective course last year. But Carol had reassured her that it wasn't about the delivery, it was about the content. And so today, in wobbly heels and a black dress, her curly brown hair clipped back, Maddy approached the front of the congregation. "Speak from the heart," her Nana had told her. So she did.


	3. Chapter 3

Elizabeth couldn't believe Russell was gone. She couldn't believe how deeply she and her family had come to love this man, whom in the earliest days of her career she suspected of murder. How two people who mutually loathed one another grew to become reluctant allies, then reluctant friends, then an unstoppable team. And somewhere between Stevie's fated CPR and Russell's tenure as her Chief of Staff, they became family. 

When Maddy was still an infant, Elizabeth had asked Henry one day whether he felt jealous that he wasn't the only grandpa in Maddy's life. Henry thought for a minute. "You know, if it were anyone else, maybe I'd be a tiny bit jealous. But it's Russell. I think this could be the start of something really good, babe."

As always, Henry was right. Maddy possessed the very best traits of the two grandfathers who adored her. It had never been more evident than when she spoke at Russell's funeral. Through misty eyes, she took in the sight of her granddaughter--vulnerable, poised, and wise beyond her years. Where had the time gone? When had her children become parents, when had her grandchildren become young adults, when had she and Henry and their friends become...old? She had attended many funerals over the course of her career, but not since her parents' funeral decades earlier had she felt this personal investment in time itself. Perhaps retirement with a theologian did that to a person. Or perhaps it was because Russell was such a force, profound flaws and all, that the experience of laying him to rest felt so surreal.


	4. Chapter 4

Stevie was proud of Maddy for speaking in the chapel. She knew what a big step this was for her daughter. There was also a selfish part of her--though Dmitri was adamant this was not selfish--that felt relieved she did not have to compose herself to say anything. She, Dmitri, and their younger two-Benjamin and Claire, sat beside her parents in the front row and watched Maddy tearfully share some of the memories she made with Russell. 

Two weeks before he died, when palliative care was brought in, Russell asked to see Stevie and Dmitri. Carol sat in a chair beside his bed, the anticipatory grief already settling into her features. "So," Russell began. "Madeline's college essay is very promising." 

Dmitri looked to Stevie. "Thank you Russell. She is very proud of it and I know she appreciates your help," he replied. 

Carol nodded at Russell encouragingly. "Is she sure she doesn't want to apply to Harvard? Even though her mother turned it down."

Stevie laughed. "Really Russell? But no, she doesn't want to be more than a short train or drive away from the family."

Carol smiled. "You two may have raised the only teenager who doesn't want to go as far away from their parents as possible."

"We still can't believe it," Dmitri said. 

"Well that kid can get in anywhere she wants," Russell chimed in. "And Carol and I want to help."

Stevie shook her head. "We appreciate that, but no. Between our jobs, my parents, and scholarships, we are very set,” she said firmly.

"We're not asking, Stevie." Carol said gently. 

"Carol's right. This is just us letting you know what to expect."

Stevie opened her mouth to protest. 

"Stephanie McCord, don't even try to lawyer me on this one. We don't have our own kids. We want to do this.” 

Dmitri put his arm around Stevie, whose face was streaked with tears. 

"I don't know what to say," she said softly. 

"Here's what you say. Tell Maddy she is not that scared little eleven year old going fishing. Tell her not to waste her time worrying about measuring up to you, or Bess, or anyone. That she can accomplish anything on her merits alone, but only if she goes after the opportunities."

Carol walked over to where Stevie and Dmitri stood. She took Stevie's hands in hers. "This is how he says goodbye," she whispered.


End file.
